Suppose your organization understands the reputational and legal risks of unethical conduct — yet, the organization has no strategy to ensure that its employees support ethical conduct. Sure, there is a code of conduct, but that’s not a strategy. Organizations who want their employees to stay at the cutting edge of technology have a strategy to attract and develop such employees. Why is it, then, that organizations do little more than hope that their employees will do the right thing? Over the forthcoming series of posts we will explore three ways in which an organization can develop a practical strategy for improving the ethics of an organization.

Is there still a point to having in-person, flesh-and-blood meetings? Is there a point to such meetings when we can see and hear a person in another part of the country/world as if they were seated across from us? Is the belief that being there in-person still matters just a pre-technological bias that will pass as technology makes remote communication even more accessible? My work in ethics tells me that there is a point to in-person meetings – and we can put our finger on just what this point is. I explain this in the Huffington Post at http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mark-pastin/up-close-and-personal-why_b_9394572.html .

One challenge many ethics and compliance officers face is working with HR. The puzzle is that it is not always easy to get along with HR. In fact, in some organizations the HR function is derisively described as “Fortress HR.” I take a look at why this relationship is troubled from the perspective of HR in the most recent issue of Workforce magazine. You can read the article at http://www.workforce-digital.com/read-wf/december_2015?pg=44#pg44.

Presidential candidate Ben Carson was recently widely ridiculed for saying that when a gunman sets out to shoot a bunch of unarmed people, someone should rush the gunman. This idea was ridiculed because it seemed to put the burden on the victims of mass shootings. But, whether or not Carson knew it, he was a discussing a well-known phenomenon called “the bystander effect.” And, given what we know about the bystander effect, he may have a point even it if it was inopportunely raised. Read more at Did Ben Carson have a point?.

Volkswagen is a company known for technological prowess and market innovation. This raises the question of how the company could engage in a plot as plain stupid as trying to trick emissions tests. I share my thoughts on this apparent puzzle in a recent piece that appeared in the business section of the Huffington Post. You can read it at http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mark-pastin/volkswagens-dumb-culture_b_8270264.html.

The first myth about compliance program assessment is that it is an optional part of an effective compliance program. The same sentence in the Sentencing Guidelines that mandates a hotline also mandates compliance program assessment. And, even if program assessment were not mandatory, it is would be incumbent on your organization to undertake assessment. Org […]

We are contacted by headhunters because we know a lot of compliance officers and we know whether they are available. However, it is extremely difficult to help these folks as they often have no idea what a compliance officer does. They are generally working from a job description written by someone in HR who also has little idea what a compliance officer doe […]

While there will continue to be new posts on longer topics on ethicswhisperer.com, I also encourage you to follow markpastin.com, which is updated more frequently and focuses on issues of the day. Of course, your comments are always welcome on any of our sites.

Hear yea! Hear yea! Hear yea! The next hot word in compliance will be UPQUALING. This, of course, is on the model of UPCODING. Healthcare reform is a gamble on the idea that incentives can be given to lower the cost of care while maintaining or improving its quality. This has been tried before with limited success under the rubrics "managed care," […]

Secretary of the US Department of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sibelius recently announced that health plans offered through exchanges will not be considered Federal health plans – and many breathed a huge sigh of relief. Not so easy.What the Secretary's announcement means is that plans purchased through exchanges will not be administratively unde […]